Our plan A didn’t push through last Friday. We were supposed to go to Lulu Island, only to find out that it’s indefinitely closed due to renovation (this one honestly looks like a virgin island and the government is planning to get this fully commercialized). What a timing. Good thing I’ve already visited this twice last year. Better yet, although we never had a solid back up plan there are other nearby nice beaches to serve as plans B, C and so forth.
Admittedly I never thought that UAE (Abu Dhabi in particular) has a bountiful of bodies of water. Innocent, beautiful and gratis. If not, entry is within reach. I thought many times of opportunity cost. Don’t they want to profit from these? Alam mo naman sa Pilipinas, basta pwedeng pagkakitaan hindi palalampasin. So it came. Unlike last year when we dropped by after my birthday celebration, Corniche Beach now has an (reasonable) entrance fee. Not only that, only families and ladies are allowed entry.
The government is taking precaution for the sort of “visual harassment”. A few probably will get in just to do girl watching (and/or boy watching?), body watching in particular. And that’s a huge offense already in this part of the world. So this beach rule goes, but has flaw.
In general, a group of male is not allowed entry. But they found a means. I observed that they would approach a group of ladies or family (at least of the same nationality) and will pretend that they are related to each other. Also, there are couples which are of course not subjected to scrutiny if they are married or not. These gave me the impression that they allow entry for those whom the gatekeepers think are a set of people who either can protect each other or have no capacity or intention to (this one’s very judgmental) be abusive. But despite these flaws in implementation, these are countered by having roaming guards to call unnecessary activity at once.
You might have thought that swimwear has extreme restrictions. Not much. The recently issued (and however not strictly implemented) dress code last month is only applicable within the boundaries of Dubai. Given that there are multi-cultural residents here, extremity in beach wear is a common observation. Some groups go to the beach fully coated. Generally, Indians are wearing their traditional dress, female locals are wearing their abayas, with very few and rare exception. While most of the expatriates wear the seemingly shrinking two-piece beach suits (even the Filipinos, but you’d never find one who wears terno). I even spotted a skin tone piece, I really thought she’s naked. You can just imagine when two different worlds meet at the beach. They will surely feel discomfort with each other at first. But varied cultural orientation is something not be laughed about, but respected.
It is also good that there are no food restrictions. We got to bring (pork) sisig and mangga’t bagoong in particular. While we munched on these smelly edibles (as they view it), especially the sinful bite (i.e. pork), the other groups savoured their most exotic curries, kebab, and other fusion of food which is distinct to other nationalities.
It is also interesting to observe which mostly consumed the time of beach goers: reading books/listening to the music/sleeping while getting their tan, eating, playing PSP and other gadgets, chatting, and other things as long as it’s decent. What’s more interesting is how different worlds treated the sunshine rays between 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. While one group wanted to hide in wherever they can, the rest are enjoying the sunshine unmindful of the skin cancer.
Bottom line is each one generally went to the beach to enjoy the sun, water and sand. Despite the differences, no discomfort is too big as long as you have sense of respect. And yes, wherever you go.
witsandnuts 
0 thoughts on “Follow the sun”
sassy mom
Ang ganda ng beach! I love your shots.
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Angeli
the varying shades of blue of both water and sky are just exquisite.
Angelis last blog post..500th
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luna miranda
a slice of heaven…i’m curious—what’s the water temperature? sasarap ng baon n’yo!
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yummybite
ganda ng mga beach dito noh? as in puro white sand. kaya lang sobrang init na nyan.
yung mga food nyo, kakagutom naman. 🙂
yummybites last blog post..Kitchen Experiment #2: Grilled Stuffed Squid
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Rico
Ang sarap ng baon nyo Wits! Manga at bagoong lang oks na ko.
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Toni
The place looks sooooooooo clean and well-kept. And utterly peaceful. I like that families and ladies only rule! 🙂
And your food… lovely! Beach food, yey.
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mordsith
the water looks clean! isn’t it nice to observe people like how you observe the setting sun? 🙂
mordsiths last blog post..So What If I’m From UP?*
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kg
ang sarap ng food. akala no na-imagine ko lang yung barrio fiesta bagoong! mukhang nag stock ka dyan ha! sarap!
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upto6only
wow a beach for families and ladies only. naks filipino food pa din hehehe good thing hindi sila partifular sa smell ng bagoong unlike sa states.
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Josiet
Nice beaches. And they’re easily accesible?
And I like the family and ladies beach only. Hehehee!
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Nebz
I bet no Filipino is under the sun between 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Hehehe. Takot mangitim!
We have our share of beaches here in Alkhobar in Saudi. And it’s also free. Well, some of them. Others are exclusively maintained by companies like Aramco, Saline Water Co, King Fahd Hospital, etc.
The Half Moon Beach near our place is open to the public and I pray that they won’t make it exclusive and for-rent as they did with Corniche Beach in Dubai. Malulumbay ako pag nangyari yun.
Body watching at the beach? Don’t we all do it?
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kayni
i ate mango (hilaw) with vinegar last night. i was in heaven. i want sisig so bad. i think that’s my mission this weekend – find a place that makes sisig…lol. great photos especially the food ones =).
kaynis last blog post..Finally Friday
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katcarneo
I would love to go there and observe the differences of the people. I am highly tolerant of people’s behavior and what you said about respect, wherever, whenever, is true.
Yay manggang hilaw and bagoong. Perfect.
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dong ho
who wont love that beach? visual harassment, it really depends on the culture of the country.
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joy
It’s wonderful when you discover new places that are as beautiful as the ones you’re used to. Even better when you can eat to your heart’s content!
joy
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sheng
I’m drooling at mangga’t bagoong… hmmm, makabili ng niyan mamaya…
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Amelia
that was cool witsandnuts 🙂 and the food…nothing really bets Filipino food…ilove the bagoong and mangang hilaw 😉
nice photos also 🙂
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Rach (Heart of Rachel)
Lovely shots! Hope you had a wonderful time at the beach. The food you brought looks so appetizing. It’s good to know that there are no food restrictions. It’s nice to go to a place where you can relax and unwind at ease.
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bw
really beautiful beaches. YOu won’t even notice that its in the Middle East ! Great shots 🙂
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jeanny
wow..super nice the beaches dyan. 🙂
Lovely shots by the way!
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Garando
Nice photos! I’m quite relieved that they do allow foreigners more freedom on what to wear. I can’t imagine how I can enjoy the beach if I’m all covered up. but like you said, it’s all about culture and respect. at least tipid sila sa sunblock. 🙂
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